Over the past 10 years, Council has been implementing a fibre optic network policy which has allowed the Council and the local community to realise benefits to include:

• Improved communication through the adoption of VOIP which utilises a network over 20+ sites and 450 phones and allows ease of expansion as the network grows;
• Increase efficiency in environmental monitoring and maintenance through the utilisation of SCADA technologyto analyse and return important operational data from our major processing plants;
• Increased public safety by installation of a corporate IP based CCTV system enabling the addition of cameras anywhere on the fibre network, for viewing anywhere else on the fibre network;
• Higher levels of occupational health and safety by implementing an IP based P25 digital two way system which gives unprecedented coverage for all our staff in the field;
• Improved productivity and work practice through the consolidation of information centres. Council now has the ability to use the data centre to share resources instead of relying on over 30 remote servers and UPS to service important remote sites;
• Improved community access by delivery of a targeted public wireless network to local community groups using the state of art wireless technology, and;
• Highly responsive emergency management with the opportunity to setup a true disaster recovery Information Technology Centre which is located 12 kilometres from our main data centre.

These process changes are the first step to­wards Council embracing the opportuni­ties the NBN will bring to our doorstep. The next phase will be a review of operations in light of the recommendations made by the govern­ment 2.0 taskforce. This will be an exploration of the multi-faceted change that will be neces­sary to embrace the new culture of collabora­tion, improvisation and user created value. These changes are anticipated to allow for stronger, more co-ordinated governance and a renewed public service culture of openness and engagement.